Double Docking Rings.

[sovereign]

From the Liberty Backstory developer document:

120 A.S.
Valhalla Research introduces their newest technological wonder, incorporating recently discovered superstrong crystalline polymers and frictionless bearings; when connected to orbital docking rings, these materials can be used to create "elevators" that almost completely negate the cost of boosting men or materials out of a planetary gravity well. Exploration and industry are revolutionzed almost overnight, opening up the entire New York system for commercial exploitation. Valhalla licenses the technology to the other houses, reaping huge returns in the process.

Valhalla Research got renamed to Ageira late in production (game files abbreviate Ageira as "vr"), and not all of the stuff in the document is necessarily canon. But this bit still makes sense, and when you think about how much combat potential you would have to sacrifice on a space superiority fighter to get it to be able to shuttle back and forth, there's no reason to assume anything different.


So, no, you really can't build a docking ring without a planet. In game engine terms you can, but in RP people would stare at you funny and suggest bad things about your parentage. Speaking of such, a docking ring wouldn't work with a gas giant in the traditional sense because you'd need something crazy heavy to moor it to. Normally the "crazy heavy" thing is the planet but that doesn't work for gas giants, so... docking ring attached to a "cloud city" might work, if everyone is prepared to get lurched around whenever someone docks. I'd suggest just having a station inside the atmosphere that can be docked with the conventional way.


As for multiple docking rings on a single planet, that's just more work for the port authorities. Ostensibly the facilities are scaled for the traffic they receive and we don't need to show the other 30,000 other docking rings a place like Manhattan may or may not have.


As for dockable OC and Sair battleships, there are a few Corsair dockable Osiris battleships, and there is the aforementioned dockable Outcast battleship in Omicron 85.

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